Trees are a primary source of cellulose for many industries, including the paper industry. It was heretofore the practice to fell trees and haul them considerable distances before reducing them to chips for further processing. This procedure was inefficient due to the transported bulk and the several operations required.
Recent innovations in this art have included use of portable plants to reduce the trees to chips in situ at the scene of the felling operation. Such operations still require felling, short drags, cleaning and elevation of the trees to the level of the chip conveyor, thereby not providing the most efficient or cleanest method of wood reduction.
Some devices, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,533,458 to McColl, fell and comminute trees in situ, however, devices such as this process only the tree trunks, leaving the branches, constituting a considerable bulk of the tree, on the ground.